Trial By Conscience
The play's the thing; Cheyenne takes a cue from Shakespeare's Hamlet after a corrupt business man tries to get away with murder. Trialbyconscience-hamletscene-cheyenne.jpg|linktext=Actors perform Hamlet for the inhabitants of Mojave City. Trialbyconscience-pianoisclosed-cheyenne.jpg|linktext=Nick Avalon is about to slam the lid down on Lee's fingers. Trialbyconscience-targetpractice-cheyenne.jpg|linktext=Lee tries to convince Marshal Cheyenne to hire him as a deputy. Trialbyconscience-hallwayfight-cheyenne.jpg|linktext=Jenny and Nick aren't having a happy wedding night when Cheyenne intervenes. Episode Notes * Cinema on the Small Screen: The scene of Cheyenne riding into town is the opening scene of the 1958 film Fort Dobbs starring Clint Walker and Virginia Mayo. Real World References * Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is, of course, a real play written by William Shakespeare''. The players perform parts of Act One, Scene Five and Act Two, Scene Two. * Avalon mentions his admiration of Napoleon, and Cheyenne encourages him to learn about the battle of Waterloo, where in 1815 the French general was defeated by British and Prussian forces. Continuity Nitpicks and Errors * ''Notice any? Add them here. Plot Mojave City is in the grip of a nasty windstorm and an even nastier man, Nick Avalon. The saloon owner has made his fortune from whiskey and crooked gambling. After the mysterious death of the town's sheriff, Nick's word is law in Mojave City enforced by his hired goons. He wants to be a benevolent tyrant and as proof he's invited an acting troop to perform Shakespeare's Hamlet in his saloon. One night, the windstorm blows federal Marshal Cheyenne Bodie into town; his mission is to find out who killed the sheriff. Cheyenne gets a dubious start by making friends with the town drunk, Quinn Lacy, and asking timid Judge Pruett to review his books for a law that could put Avalon out of business. The Sioux City Traveling Players arrive in town with the young Jenny Gerard. Avalon is smitten by the beautiful actress. Jenny has no romantic interest in him because she's on the lookout for her missing fiancé, a man named Lee Quillan. During rehearsal, Jenny recognizes the drunken piano player Quinn Lacy is Lee, her long-lost beau. The couple make a deal: Lee must work an honest job for 30 days and then they will be married. Lee asks Cheyenne for a job as his deputy. The marshal isn't impressed with Lee's slow draw, but he has no other applicants. The town crowds into Nick's saloon for the Hamlet performance. Afterward, Cheyenne takes the stage and declares the saloon closed due to a legal loophole that Judge Pruett found. Avalon angrily swears that Cheyenne himself will reopen the saloon shortly. He makes good on that prediction by shutting own the town's water supply. The townspeople are soon demanding the marshal open the saloon. Cheyenne and Lee drive wagons to get water at a nearby river. On their way back through a dark rocky pass, an assailant attacks Lee. The next day Lee is still missing after search parties turn up nothing. Jenny and Cheyenne are certain that Avalon is the culprit. Cheyenne refuses Jenny's demand that Avalon be arrested because they don't even have the body to convict Nick of murder. Jenny furiously vows to become Avalon's wife just to make his life a living hell. Cheyenne doesn't like her plan, but Hamlet has given him an idea. Nick's and Jenny's wedding is a happy affair -- for Nick at least -- since Cheyenne has allowed his saloon to reopen. But the wedding night turns into a bust after a patron shows Cheyenne a newspaper article from a nearby town about a man who fits Lee's description. From this, Jenny declares that Lee might be alive. She refuses to consummate the marriage until she knows for sure that he's dead. Nick sends one of his goons out to investigate the newspaper story. In the meantime he meets with a customer who pays his bar tab with a pipe that looks exactly like the one Lee used. The goon returns to report the newspaper story is true. That night, Avalon enters the darkened saloon where he sees a man seated at the piano wearing Lee's clothes and playing his favorite song. The man jumps out the window before Nick sees his face. More confused than ever, Avalon rides out to the rocky pass and starts digging. He's interrupted by Cheyenne who assures him that Lee is buried right where Nick put him. Bodie coordinated the newspaper, the pipe, the piano player and even Jenny to make Nick lead him to the body. In jail waiting to be hung, Avalon confesses to Cheyenne that he killed Mojave City's sheriff. When he first came to town, Nick was on the run from the law for a murder in Philadelphia. The sheriff started asking around town for a man named Arnold Warren which is Avalon's real name. Nick killed him to avoid being arrested for murder. Surprised at this confession, Cheyenne explains the sheriff was looking for Arnold Warren only to tell him he had inherited a fortune! Knowing that his sudden wealth will be passed on to Jenny when she becomes a widow that afternoon, Nick laughs maniacally at this twist of fate. Quotes "A man who's short on fear is short on sense." :- Cheyenne tries to encourage Judge Pruett.'' "You came to the right man with a headache. The marshal has plenty of his own." "Nothing a proper hanging can't cure." :- ''Nick Avalon''' trades barbs with '''Marshal Cheyenne. Cheyenne Gallery Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience.jpg Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience2.jpg Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience3.jpg Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience4.jpg Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience5.jpg Cheyennebodie-trialbyconscience6.jpg Category:TV Episode Category:Season Four Category:Shirtless Scene Category:Cinema On the Small Screen